This invention relates to a system for growing tissue cultures and more particularly comprises a new and improved culture chamber and tissue support that provide for the supply of nutrients and oxygen to tissue samples under spatial conditions simulating those that occur in nature.
In the conventional art of in-vitro growth of mammalian tissues, tissue samples are affixed to the bottom of a tube or petri dish and bathed from above with a nutrient solution. In this conventional mode the tissue culture receives nutrients from above, i.e., from the side opposite the side attached to the tube or petri dish. This arrangement is contrary to the situation in the body where the plane of attachment of epithelial tissue to the underlying connective tissue is also the path of nutrient exchange. This conventional prior art method makes the diagnosis and prediction of the malignant character of many epithelial tissue disorders very difficult.